1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electric heater, and more particularly, the present invention relates to a radiant electric heater in which terminals of a halogen lamp are clamped with respect to a ceramic base secured to a reflector, and an auxiliary reflector is arranged in front of the halogen lamp, so that a heat reflection efficiency and durability of the radiant electric heater are improved.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the improvement of living standards, as a room heating arrangement, electric heaters have widely been used throughout the world, in place of oil heaters. In order to meet diverse market demand, various kinds of electric heaters have been developed.
As is well known in the art, a basic principle of an electric heater is to warm surrounding air with heat generated by applying a current to a heating wire which is disposed in a space delimited by a safety guard or grill. The electric heater is provided with appurtenances or its associated elements for efficiently radiating heat generated from the heating wire. As a typical example, an electric heater, in which a reflection plate prepared by bending a quadrangular thin metal sheet is placed behind the heating wire, has been pervaded, but a satisfactory effect is not obtained. This type of electric heater has a problem in that heat cannot be transferred to a desired far distance. In the case that a large current is applied to the electric heater to transfer heat to the desired far distance, dangers of overheating and electrical fire may be accompanied. On the contrary, in the case that a small current is applied to the electric heater to avoid any possible accident, it is difficult to generate a sufficient amount of heat.
In order to cope with the problem involved in the above-mentioned conventional electric heater, in Korean Utility Model Laid-open Publication No. 98-61527, there is disclosed a radiant electric heater capable of transferring an appropriate amount of heat to a desired far distance to warm room air to a sufficient degree. In such a radiant electric heater, a semi-spherical or parabolic reflector is arranged behind a heating wire, and a diameter of a heating wire mounting member on which the heating wire is wound is gradually decreased toward a rear end of the heater, so that heat is not diffused toward all directions but concentrated in a narrow range, and thereby, can be transferred to the desired far distance.
Concretely speaking with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, a radiant electric heater 1 largely comprises a heating part 10 including a heating wire 12, and a support part 20. The support part 20 has a support base 21 in which main circuits for controlling operation of the radiant electric heater 1 are built in. A power control knob 22 for power supply or power cut-off, a temperature adjustment knob 23 for adjusting a temperature of the heating wire 12, a power connection indicator lamp 24, a safety switch 29 for cutting off power supply to the heating wire 12 when the heater 1 is tilted, and an alarm lamp 25 for calling attention to dangerous tilting of the heater 1, and so forth, are installed on rear and front portions of the support base 21.
The heating part 10 is connected to a support column 26 of the support base 21 via a retractable rod 27. By pressing a height adjustment button 28, the retractable rod 27 can be retracted into or extended from the support column 26. That is, an overall height of the radiant electric heater 1 can be adjusted as desired.
Referring to FIG. 2 which is a partial side cross-sectional view illustrating the heating part 10 of the heater 1, the heating part 10 includes the heating wire 12 which is wound around a heating wire mounting member 11 having a predetermined configuration, a reflector 13 which is arranged behind the heating wire 12, a safety grill 14 which is coupled to the reflector 13 and defines a front contour of the entire heating part 10, and a support case 15 which is connected to a rear end of the reflector 13. The heating wire 12 is connected to the reflector 13 by the medium of a bracket 16, and a heat sensor 17 is fixed to a front surface of the reflector 13 at a predetermined location.
In the construction of the radiant electric heater 1, as stated above, unlike the first-mentioned conventional electric heater in which heat is diffused toward all directions, heat rays emitted from the heating wire 12 and designated by the reference character a are concentrated in a predetermined range C due to the presence of the reflector 13. As a consequence, heat can be transferred to a desired far distance. At this time, due to the fact that the heat rays a do not remain around the heating part 10 including the heating wire 12 but are emitted through a reflecting function of the reflector 13, the safety grill 14 is prevented from being overheated.
A maximum heat ray convergence can be accomplished in the case where the reflector 13 has a semi-spherical surface outline such as seen in a conventional concave mirror, or a parabolic surface outline having substantially a concave center portion.
The heating wire mounting member 11, around which the heating wire 12 is wound and which is made of a heat-resistant material such as a ceramic, and the like, has a configuration of a truncated cone which is gradually decreased in its diameter toward a rear end thereof. Due to this fact, all heat rays a from the heating wire 12 are directed toward the reflector 13, and therefore, it is possible to prevent any of the heat rays a from diffusing out of the predetermined range C. The heating wire mounting member 11 may have a configuration of a polygonal pyramid such as a trigonal pyramid, etc. Hence, it is sufficient that the heating wire mounting member 11 has a diameter which is gradually decreased in a rearward direction.
While this type of radiant electric heater 1 exhibits an increased heat efficiency, it still suffers from defects in that, since the heating wire 12 for generating heat is shaped in the form of a coil, the heating wire 12 is likely to be corroded when it is used for a lengthy period of time, and thereby, durability of the heater 1 can be deteriorated and fire can be caused. Further, because the heating wire 12 is directly wound around the heating wire mounting member 11 made of a ceramic, as the ceramic which directly receives heat is overheated, a far infrared ray irradiation efficiency can be lowered.
Accordingly, the present invention has been made in an effort to solve the problems occurring in the related art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a radiant electric heater which utilizes as its heat source (that is, heat generation means) a halogen lamp, and in which an auxiliary reflector is arranged in front of the halogen lamp in a safety grill, so that a heat reflection efficiency is improved due to additional heat reflection by the auxiliary reflector and a far infrared ray irradiation efficiency is improved because a ceramic base receives radiant heat from the halogen lamp in such a way as not to be overheated.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a radiant electric heater in which terminals of a halogen lamp are clamped in clamping grooves defined in a ceramic base to simplify a clamping work, a front surface of an auxiliary reflector is coated with a ceramic to improve a far infrared ray irradiation efficiency, and each terminal and a clamper therefor are commonly accommodated in each clamping groove to improve a shock-absorbing characteristic.
To these ends, in the present invention, a halogen lamp is utilized as heat generation means, and an auxiliary reflector is spacedly arranged in front of the halogen lamp to allow transfer of an increased amount of radiant heat. The auxiliary reflector is fastened with respect to a safety grill to ease an assembling work. A front surface of the auxiliary reflector is coated with a ceramic to improve a far infrared ray irradiation efficiency. Terminals of the halogen lamp are accommodated and clamped in clamping grooves defined in a ceramic base. The ceramic base does not directly receive heat generated from the halogen lamp but indirectly receives radiant heat emitted therefrom to improve a far infrared ray irradiation efficiency.
In order to achieve the first object, according to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a radiant electric heater, including a reflector, heat generation means disposed on the reflector, and a safety grill coupled to a front end of the reflector, comprising: a ceramic base defined with clamping grooves for directly clamping terminals of a halogen lamp serving as the heat generation means, the ceramic base receiving radiant heat from the halogen lamp, being indirectly heated by the radiant heat and irradiating far infrared rays, the ceramic base being secured to a center portion of the reflector; an auxiliary reflector spacedly arranged in front of the halogen lamp and having a concave surface outline which faces a curved front end of the halogen lamp, for primarily reflecting heat rays toward the reflector, the auxiliary reflector possessing a size capable of covering the curved front end of the halogen lamp; and a fastening member having one end which is affixed to the auxiliary reflector and the other end which is affixed to a center portion of the safety grill.
In order to achieve the second object, according to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a radiant electric heater, including a reflector, heat generation means disposed on the reflector, and a safety grill coupled to a front end of the reflector, comprising: a ceramic base defined with clamping grooves for directly clamping terminals of a halogen lamp serving as the heat generation means, the ceramic base receiving radiant heat from the halogen lamp, being indirectly heated by the radiant heat and irradiating far infrared rays; an auxiliary reflector spacedly arranged in front of the halogen lamp and having a concave surface outline which faces a curved front end of the halogen lamp, for primarily reflecting heat rays toward the reflector, the auxiliary reflector possessing a size capable of covering the curved front end of the halogen lamp and being applied on a front surface thereof (opposing to a reflecting surface) with a ceramic coating layer; a fastening member having one end which is affixed to the auxiliary reflector and the other end which is affixed to a center portion of the safety grill; and dampers loosely accommodated, along with the terminals of the halogen lamp, in the clamping grooves of the ceramic base; each damper comprising a pair of leg portions accommodated in the clamping groove, each separated by a predetermined distance from the terminal of the halogen lamp, and having one ends fixed to the ceramic base, and a clamping band portion integrally joined to the other ends of the leg portions and having a diameter which is less than an interval measured between the leg portions, for clamping a portion of the halogen lamp, which portion is adjacent to the terminal.